Colleague Spotlight
Peter Grace, Regional Business Director
Peter's background
Though a relatively fresh face on the scene at WorkNest, Peter Grace brings an abundance of experience, ability and personality to his role. Having run his own and others’ businesses for many years, Peter can relate to the challenges facing those he meets in his role as Regional Business Director, and is able to apply his broad knowledge of all sectors to support a large and diverse portfolio of clients.
Technical ability aside, Peter is first and foremost a people person. His empathetic nature and keen interest in people enables him to comprehensively deliver on WorkNest’s core values, always providing a considered and tailor-made action plan to each client.
An interview with Peter
What was your background before joining WorkNest?
Following the completion of my MBA, I spent many years successfully running my own businesses, in addition to a number of SMEs owned by others.
After selling my business, I took the leap into management consultant, before eventually being headhunted into this sector because of my qualifications and experience with running businesses.
I then spent some time working in a business development capacity with a small health and safety consultancy, before joining WorkNest two years ago.
I now serve as the company’s Regional Business Director, and I believe that my broad knowledge, experience, qualifications and passion allow me to complete the role to the highest possible standard.
What does your role at WorkNest entail?
In terms of my typical day, I’m up at 6:30am and at my desk by 8am. After spending roughly two hours on social media and responding to emails, I then begin hitting the phones and sitting in meetings until roughly 4pm. From there, I tend to wrap up any outstanding admin and set my list of actions for the next day.
I tend to wrap up for the day at around 6pm, and then it’s family time, usually followed by a short gym session.
In terms of the specifics of the role, I support a large, diverse portfolio of clients across all sectors. These range from small local charities to large multi-site organisations.
The approach that I take day-to-day is, of course, rooted in business management and continuity, but having said that, I feel that I am first and foremost a people person. My genuine interest in people and their organisations is something that I feel benefits the role greatly.
Which aspect of the role do you enjoy the most, and which do you find most challenging?
The thing I love the most about the role is the sheer diversity of it. No two days are the same. I can be dealing with a small charity one moment and a large multinational the next. And what’s more, I’m doing all of this in the knowledge that I’m adding value to the organisation and helping the business grow.
In fact, my affinity for the role is such that the most challenging element is getting the word out about the work we’re doing. We have so much good news to talk about at WorkNest. We’re fundamentally helping businesses to improve every day, and that’s something I’m endlessly proud of.
Can you share any achievements or success stories?
My proudest success story in recent times involves a prospect I had with a complex, multi-site business. It was a tough project to navigate, but our bespoke solutions enabled them to tackle their legal responsibilities in a way that perfectly fit the culture of the business.
Ultimately, the business was substantially improved, which is something that we strive to do every day.
What advice would you give to employers?
Never assume, and never allow arrogance to take over. Trying to do everything yourself is a recipe for disaster. It’s a fault I had in my own business in the past. In large organisations, it’s all too easy to miss key details, and in this day and age, missing key details can prove extremely costly.
I would advise employers to concentrate on their core activities and outsource everything else. This will allow them to focus on key objectives, and will ultimately make the organisation more robust and efficient as a result.
How would you best describe WorkNest’s support, and what makes it unique?
Quite simply, WorkNest offers pragmatic, hands-on advice. Our support levels are second to none, and every single staff member genuinely wants to help their clients.
One of the key ways this manifests is our acting as ‘competent people’ for our clients. We are the only company of size to offer this. As a company, we pledge to keep our clients’ staff and businesses safe, and I can think of no better way than this for us to put our money where our mouth is.
While people often see health and safety as the business prevention department, WorkNest is the opposite. We offer sensible, proportionate advice, find commercial solutions, and enable our clients to proceed with the activities that make them money, safe in the knowledge that they are compliant.
Crucially, having a dedicated point of contact for HR or health and safety allows us to build genuine, authentic relationships with clients. Unlike some of our competitors, there’s no auto-renewal clauses in our contracts; we believe the quality of our support should dictate whether or not you stay with us, and our high retention rates are testament to the fact that we deliver on that.
Who you’ll be working with
Greg Guilford
Director of HR Consulting
Client stories
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Gus Hosein
Executive Director, Privacy International
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WorkNest supports our 280 staff members with Employment Law and Health & Safety and has provided quality management training too.”
Lisa Best
Head of Service Delivery, Catalyst Choice
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We get a great deal of comfort and satisfaction knowing that we have support as and when we need it, in a decisive and responsive way.”
Richard Berry
Group HR Director, Culina Group
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We moved our legal support to WorkNest (formerly Law at Work) having previously used a time and line law firm. It was important, though, that an all-inclusive fee structure did not come at the expense of quality. Thankfully we’ve been delighted with the service we’ve received from WorkNest.”
Chief Executive
Waverley Care
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What we recognised in WorkNest is the background that they have. They are able to supply knowledge and experience in a number of disciplines, which enables us to develop our business in a way that’s safe, to do it on time and with a quality to it.”
Debbie Rainbow
Director of Human Resources and Health & Safety,
Bluestone National Park Resort
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Celia McKeon
Chief Executive, The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT)
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As the company started to get larger, we knew we had to protect our employees and our contractors both onsite and in the offices. WorkNest is exactly what we needed to move the company forward.”
Joanne Beaver
Operations Director, Beaverfit
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Pineapple have worked with the team at WorkNest (formerly Law at Work) since 2003, and we have built a trusted partnership together. We particularly like WorkNest’s concise and practical advice concerning employment law/HR issues and also appreciate their totally supportive approach in all areas of health and safety.”
General Manager
Pineapple Dance Studios
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I’ve taken WorkNest into every organisation that I’ve worked with. I’ve introduced them to many teams and many colleagues and referred them with absolute pleasure because I genuinely trust in the service that we get.”
People Director, The Works
